AP: Dean Blasts Bush Over Mad Cow Scare

Excite News ^ | December 27, 2003 | JOHN SOLOMON

[LurkedLongEnough]

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean says the Bush administration missed an opportunity to soften the impact of the country's first mad cow scare and that the American beef industry should receive federal aid to weather the crisis.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, Dean also said Friday he wants Osama bin Laden to get the death penalty, seeking to minimize fallout from a New Hampshire newspaper story in which he was quoted as saying the terror leader's guilt should not be prejudged.

"As a president, I would have to defend the process of the rule of law. But as an American, I want to make sure he gets the death penalty he deserves," Dean told the AP in a phone interview.

The former Vermont governor, who solidly leads the field of Democratic presidential candidates in both polls and money, said he was simply trying to state in The Concord Monitor interview that the process of trying bin Laden needs to be fair and credible.

In that interview published Friday, Dean was quoted as saying, "I still have this old-fashioned notion that even with people like Osama, who is very likely to be found guilty, we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials."

Dean told the AP that sentiment doesn't mean he sympathizes in any way with the al-Qaida leader. "I'm just like every other American, I think the guy is outrageous," he said.

Dean also weighed in for the first time on the news earlier this week that a cow in Washington state has tested positive for mad cow disease, the first such case in the United States.

The former governor, whose state has a large dairy cow population, said the Bush administration failed to aggressively set up a tracking system that would allow the government to quickly track the origins of the sick cow, quarantine other animals it came in contact with and assure the marketplace the rest of the meat supply is safe.

"What we need in this country is instant traceability," he said.

Dean said such a system should have been set up quickly after the mad cow scare that devastated the British beef industry in the mid- to late-1990s. The Bush administration was still devising its plan when the sick cow was slaughtered Dec. 9, and on Friday the government still hadn't determine the infected animal's origins.

"This just shows the complete lack of foresight by the Bush administration once again," Dean said. "This is something that easily could be predicted and was predicted."

Dean said as a result the beef industry will suffer enormously. Officials said Friday 90 percent of the foreign markets for American beef have been closed off because of the announcement.

Asked if he supported a federal economic aid package for the industry, Dean said: "The answer is, yes, of course I do. The question is how much? And we don't know how much yet."

Dean said the government's first job, before the economic damage is calculated, must be to "close down that impact as soon as possible" by tracing the cow's origins and credibly reassuring the American public and the world that the rest of the U.S. beef supply is safe.

As a doctor, Dean said he was more concerned about the impact of the announcement on the U.S. economy than on public health. "The truth is this is going to have a minimal health impact," he said.

Dean also reacted to comments attributed to Democratic rival Joe Lieberman in a story published Friday in The Union-Leader of Manchester, N.H., suggesting the Roe vs. Wade decision needs to be revisited because scientific advances allow a fetus to survive outside the womb much earlier than in the 1970s.

Lieberman issued a statement Friday saying he was misquoted and doesn't want the historic Supreme Court decision to be reopened.

Dean said he wasn't personally familiar with the Union-Leader interview, but he said Lieberman is "very much off base and doesn't understand the science," comparing him to anti-abortion Republicans.

"I think Joe makes the mistake that Republicans do, insinuating himself in the doctor-patient relationship," Dean said.

[LoudRepublicangirl]

He'll probably say that President Bush hand fed the tainted feed to the infected cow.

[ahadams2]

you just gotta wonder when all of dean's little followers are going to start wearing symbolic armbands....

[mvpel]

I just spent some time with my Father-in-Law. He explained (completely seriously) that the Mad Cow thing was Bush's fault and scoffed, "Just wait, he won't be able to fix this. The guy's a moron."

See the chapter of Ann Coulter's book "Slander" on the subject of Democrats calling everyone they don't agree with "stupid."

[Cicero]

Tomorrow he'll be saying that we should execute the mad cows and grind up Saddam for hamburger.

[alloysteel]

Bush has done either:

1. Too much,

2. not enough, or

3. applied the wrong solution for the problem at hand.

However, Howard Brush Dean III, child of privilege, Birkenstock doc, and beneficiary of some $3.8 million in trust funds, equities and financial instruments, in his wisdom, can accurately define the X-ray vision, laser sharp, exact right answer each time.

Except when his mouth gets into gear. Then we hear words come out, and they SOUND like the English language, and the phrase construction seems to be correct, but the sentences make no sense whatsoever.

[GailA]

Wasn't it under SLICK that the USDA changed some rules that will NOW allow certain diseased animals into the food chain? I think it was ones with tumors, cancer growths etc. To my way of thinking NO diseased animal should be allowed into the food chain.

The idiots at the processing plant should never have processed the meat once the BSE was determined. Better to take the loss on one cow than to take the beating they will now take.

[Go Gordon]

Bush political advertisement next year:

Little old Lady: "Hey Dean - WHERE'S THE BEEF?"

[bray]

"Hello 911? Could we get a rubber truck out here at the Des Moines Airport Holiday Inn??"

Pray for W and The Truth

[ellery]

The former governor, whose state has a large dairy cow population...

Uh, does anyone know whether Dean set up such a tracking system in Vermont?

[TheBattman]

Dean says the Bush administration missed an opportunity to soften the impact of the country's first mad cow scare

What does he mean "soften" - cover it up? That would be so - so-----Clintonesque!

[pctech]

He never misses the opportunity to hype a phony crisis.

He's trying his best to look presidential, just like his idol Slick Willy.

[LiberalBassTurds]

He's obviously our second known case. Can't blame him for being irrational in light of his condition. Lotta cows up there in Vermont. :)

LBT

-=-=-

[CurlyBill]

Dean blasts Bush over the Flu outbreak
Dean blasts Bush over the Iranian earthquake
Dean blasts Bush over the death of Brett Favre's father
Dean blasts Bush over the failed flight of the Wright Brother's replica
Dean blasts Bush over the California mudslide
Dean blasts Bush over the Benin plane crash
Dean blasts Bush over the southwest US drought this year
Dean blasts Bush over the low temperatures this winter
Dean blasts Bush over delay in AirFrance flights into and out of LAX
Dean blasts Bush over the WalMart beating
Dean blasts Bush over the apparent loss of the Mars Beagle 2 probe
Dean blasts Bush over Buffalo Bill's loss
Dean blasts Bush over the Steinbrenner fainting

[vladog]

Hell I knew Bush was at fault all along.

No doubt Bush is also to blame for the Brit Mars probe not phoning home.

And the quake in Iran.

And the cold snap that killed several Brits.

Must be scary to have the power Bush has!

[xzins]

Before the mad cow scare beef prices were going up, reportedly led by Atkins dieters.

I wonder if the loss of world market will cause an over-supply at home and keep prices in check through the election in November?

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Dean is the epitome of modern extremist Democrats -- completely devoid of common sense. I wouldn't allow this fanatic to be in charge of filling my dog's food bowl.

[Jorge]

I agree.
It's hard to believe the Dem base considers this man a viable candidate for the White House.
He has no control over what comes out of his mouth.
The other Dem candidates are just ripping him to shreads...and yet he still leads them in the polls. Insane.

[org.whodat]

The idiots at the processing plant should never have processed the meat once the BSE was determined. Better to take the loss on one cow than to take the beating they will now take.

The idiots who owned the cow, had a herd of over two thousand, but they were so stupid they wanted to lose their whole herd over a two hundred dollar cow. I grew up on a farm and now live on a farm, I HAVE NEVER SOLD A DOWN ANIMAL, if I don't want to eat it I don't want someone else to eat it. I always shoot and shovel it's cheap insurance.

[RicocheT]

"What we need in this country is instant traceability," Dean said

When Dean is president, cows and people will get ear tags with computer chips on them.

Dean = BIG BROTHER.

Orwell's 1984 just was off on the year.

[Becki]

That guy's grin is just scary. It reminds me of Jack Nicholson in The Shining.

Becki